


Supportive

by Baknami



Category: Battleborn
Genre: Action, Adventure, Canon-Typical Censorship, Gen, Mostly Character Interaction, The Algorithm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-07-16 15:22:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7273489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baknami/pseuds/Baknami
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kleese was certain that doing a raid on Bliss to capture the rogue Magnus ISIC was going to get them killed.  Reyna decided there was only one team that could get everyone out alive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> TL;DR: Four Supports, one Galilea, ISIC as supporting cast. So I guess that means FIVE Supports ahahaha I slay me.
> 
> Long Story: Alani had just come out and everyone wanted to play her, so we came up with the bright idea of doing story. Three people jumped in and all became Alanis, and since I didn't have her yet, I played Gallie for their Lore. One of the Alanis asked me to write a story about it, and while clones would be funny if Oscar Mike were there, and only for about 5 seconds, I figured doing all the "main" supports + Gallie would be a lot more fun, especially with the *love/hate triangle* woopwoop.
> 
> Later on we played Algorithm on Advanced and we actually did have this very group but with ISIC instead of Galilea. It is a good way to do it without a whole lot of casualties actually, maybe replace Ambra with Oscar Mike I dunno whatever.
> 
> So anyway the point is this is all practicing writing characters. Hope you like it!
> 
> DISCLAIMER: There is a LOT of theory crafting here. I am by no means a scientist but I like to incorporate what I know, especially when it comes to the humanities. Just saying there might be some stuff that, later on in the lore, isn't quite canon, so I'm sorry if that happens. Hope you guys like it!!
> 
> DISCLAIMERx2: I cannot, cannot see Alani as anything older than like, 16, or basically a teenager. I'm not really into Alani and Galilea making out, so like she's probably going to be super like "Gallie u so cool!" but like the pairing isn't actually *there* there, right? So basically if you clicked this for cuddles then whoops!? But they're still cute I swear.

The leadership aboard the ship Nova were briefing each other on an offer that came in from the United Peacekeeping Republic. Bliss, the largest moon of the gas giant Nylo, had recently had some trouble with a cranky AI Magnus, who apparently took over the entirety of Ft. Ocoban. The UPR needed help, and they would rather have someone they trusted take care of the mess; thankfully, the "Battleborn" had a leader that previously worked for the UPR military, and since he was ex-military, they wouldn't miss him so much if he and his underlings didn't come back. It wasn't a waste of resources anymore, but Captain Trevor Ghalt knew that if he could get his group to stop that Magnus, the UPR would owe them a favor they'd be hard pressed to ignore. "We gotta get this done, people. Our small strike groups are nothing to sneeze at, but if we had the power of the UPR backing us up, we'll be that much more powerful."

Ghalt's resident scientist, Gunnar Kleese, stroked his beard and looked up at Ghalt from his chair. “Apropos of nothing,” the genius geezer asked “Did the UPR mention a name for our little rogue Magnus?"

“Yes, actually,” Captain Trevor Ghalt said, turning to the octogenarian, “ISIC.”

Kleese's smile turned stilted, and he let out a very awkward chuckle. “Fantastic... we're all going to die...!”

The Valkyrie, a Rogue captain named Reyna Valeria, crossed her arms and snorted through her nose, “No we won't, not with the right group going in.”

There was silence for a moment. Ghalt turned to Reyna's waggling eyebrows, and the two captains stared at each other for a long while. “No,” Ghalt said.

“You say 'no', but you must mean...”

“*No*.”

\---

The argument ended up going back and forth for a good half hour, all the while Kleese was trying desperately hard to focus on drawing up plans for a containment unit for Magnuses (Nova would have helped, but she was too busy collecting some proverbial, digital “popcorn” to watch the ensuing argument). Eventually the two captains separated, huffing angrily, and the ship's AI shouted for the two of them to get a room.

Ghalt took that advice to heart, but not in the way the ship's Magnus was expecting. He ended up alone in the command room, looking through the roster that they had available and grumbling deeply as he tried to find the perfect group to minimize casualties.. Perhaps if he sent in Montana, then Oscar Mike could...

He heard the familiar sound of a rogue captain's clacking boots, approaching from behind, “Relax yourself, Ghalt, you're gunna get even more grey hair. I'm telling you, I got your team.”

Ghalt swerved in his chair, sighing at the three humanoids standing behind her. "No. No way. You can't go into Bliss with this group."

Reyna tapped her foot. "We can and we will. There's no way anyone can kill this group."

“That's because they're all of our healers!” Ghalt protested, pointing an accusing finger at the three supports behind the Valkyrie.

None of them seemed very excited about this arrangement, and perhaps they only agreed to it because of some sort of blackmail. Water Monk Alani was standing on the far left, chanting a mantra under her breath and eyeing the sun priestess a little ways away. She seemed to be trying desperately hard not to rip and tear. “Calm, serene, still. You won't make friends if you keep killing everyone.” She could actually make more friends, and her slight vibrating said that this was the only reason she was keeping silent.

The other two felt just as uninspired. Fungal Colony “A. Mikollopria” stood in the middle of the three and stared off at a wall just to the left of Reyna and Ghalt. Every once in a while they made a few wet gurgles under their breath (which they seemed, beyond all scientific reasoning, to possess. Lady Phoebe Hemsworth IV theorized that their chest was nothing but air sacs, and Ghalt had to keep her from dissecting their first healer). They seemed pretty content though, probably because they liked the moisture that Alani exuded from her watery being. In fact, the creature was standing much closer to Alani than they would to anyone else. Fungi were weird like that.

Claudia Ambralia Divia, on the other hand, had her lips pursed tightly as she watched Reyna (“It's not even a contest! You don't want any casualties, and this is the best way to ensure it!”). She checked her nails and turned towards the vibrating monk and the gurgling fungus. “Wonderful,” she muttered under her breath, “If I get any spores on me, I'm burning that thing to a crisp.” Miko didn't seem to hear her mutterings, even though she didn't care if anyone did.

And that left Captain Reyna “The Valkyrie” Valeria, commander of the Rogues. She was the queen of support, offering shields and directing her team to the most dangerous foes. There was not a member of the Battleborn who did not respect her. Hell, most would outright follow her straight into the gaping jaws of death, and if Trevor Ghalt was the “spiritual leader” who directed the Battleborn from afar, it was Reyna who could be seen as the commander on the field.

It was that same woman who was *still* engaged in expository banter with Ghalt. “Look,” Trevor said sternly, talking slowly so he would be understood, “If you four fail, that is our entire support, *lost*. I can't take that chance.”

“So lemme get this straight,” Reyna said, just as slowly, “you don't believe that I, along with three dedicated healers, can handle anything a bats**t crazy AI can throw at us? You don't think that I can get my team through? Are you trusting *Kleese's* word over *my* skill?”

Ghalt opened his mouth, but he found that there was nothing to say. There had been so many times that she charged into the fray ahead of her men, not blindly, but heroically, showing her comrades that she did not fear death and neither should they. This was helped by the fact that she supported them by shielding her comrades, and, at the end of the day, she was the last person off of the field. At that point, it couldn't just be luck; the woman was one of the most skilled leaders in the universe, small as it was at this point. This was a fact that Ghalt just could not deny, and he sighed in resignation. “You promise me you're gunna get them back here safe?”

“Miko might be missing it's cap, but they grow back,” Reyna said with a shrug and a smile. Ghalt wasn't fully convinced... but perhaps this really was the best they could work with. It was probably better than sending in someone as emotionally unstable as Toby, after all.

“Fine then, we'll do it your way, but on one condition.” The Valkyrie placed her hand on her hip, showing that she was all ears, and the commander swept his hand, gesturing at the four of them, “You need a fifth to round out your squad, and I've got just the one for the job. She'll keep the heat off of you, I'm sure of it.”

The other four suddenly noticed that there had been a presence in the room, and the hair on Ambra's neck rose when the shadows themselves began to shift and gather. Alani cocked her head and peered at the corner of the room, and Miko's gurgles took on a warning tone, their shoulders rolled forward in warning. The shadows seemed to melt and then reform as a creature drew itself out of the corner of the command room. She was dressed in the full plate of a powerful warrior, and her mask made her seem that much more inhuman, almost monstrous.

Ambra, however, seemed to go into fits upon seeing the shadowy creature, and she pointed accusingly at the woman with a screech, “It's you!”

“Ladies and...” Ghalt glanced at Miko, “Mushroom... This is Galilea Azmozeus, the Wraith of Bliss.”

The comm screeched and Ghalt had to pull his earpiece out. “You're not serious! That myth was *real*!?” Kleese shouted through the entire ship, making Montana and Thorn look up from their books, “How can a ghost story actually be *true*?”

“First of all, thanks for listening in on us for *gawd* knows what reason,” Reyna muttered into her own comm, “Second, don't you have something better to do? Like figuring out some tactics for taking out this Magnus?”

Kleese hemmed and hawed a bit, “Well, *obviously* I can do work while also listening in...”

Nova's voice came up next: “I wanted to listen to you argue some more; you're the most interesting thing that happens on this ship. Hey, are you going to start slapping each other? Please tell me you will; I haven't seen a good slap fight in ages.”

Reyna turned down the comm and crossed her arms, “Fair 'nuff.” Best to drop it at this point, given Nova's personality.

“But-but but...” Ambra turned from the wraith back to Ghalt, “Galilea!? *Again*!? Y-y-you... I just got *back* from Bliss with her, and now I have to go down there *again*!?”

Alani turned to whisper at Miko, “Any person who can get a rise outta Ambra is probably gunna be a great friend.” ...The colony cocked their cap, and the monk turned away with an exasperated sigh.

The mask suddenly opened up, allowing the woman's sickly purple skin to be seen. The blood in her veins ran like viscous, black oil, and her eyes were like molten lava, an orange-red that burned with a fire that seemed otherworldly. “Captain Reyna 'Valkyrie' Valeria,” Galilea stated with a fervor that only a truly ardent Peacekeeper could muster, “from what I have heard, you are to lead this expedition. I am... unused to working under another's command, but I would like you to know that I will do my utmost to keep you and yours safe during this mission.”

Miko glanced at Alani's starry-eyes and Ambra's gagging face. “We are... happy to have you.” Perhaps most of them were, at least.

Reyna thrust a thumb over her shoulder at Miko, “Well, you got the mushroom to talk, so you can't be all that bad.”

“Oh my gosh,” Alani whispered just loud enough for Galilea to glance up at her, “You look like a *superhero*.”

Galilea started, blinking incredulously at the monk. “A hero...?” Something flashed through her expression. Pain? Anger? Hatred? ...And then finally, with a guilt-ridden face, the wraith turned away, disgusted by the word. “I am no 'hero'. At least, none that you should follow an example of.”

“Just like what a superhero would say!” Alani sighed dramatically, making Ambra groan.

“Can we just get on with this, already?” the priestess insisted, turning sharply in the air and gliding off, “The faster we get through this, the quicker I can get back to pretending you don't exist.”

Miko seemed to like the idea of actually doing their work, so they turned and walked off behind Ambra. Galilea followed behind, with Alani telling her that “Wraith of Bliss” was a “super-cool super-hero” name.

Reyna, meanwhile, looked at Ghalt, who smiled and gave her a thumbs up with a winning smile. “You got this, I believe in you.” Also known as “You made your bed; now it's time to lie in it.”

The Valkyrie flipped him the bird and said, “F*ck off, Captain,” before she went to join the squad.


	2. Touchdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Battleborn touch down on Bliss, and ISIC prepares a welcoming party. But the real question is: does Miko even *have* kneecaps?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh ISIC is probably the hardest to write for me. Whenever I get around to it, he always sounds like a sarcastic teenage hipster than someone who is actually dangerous or scary. I tried really hard to change wordings and things so he didn't spew the same things we've heard, while also keeping it around the same idea, so it didn't seem too far off. Hopefully everything turned out looking about right.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy some of the action! I especially love writing Ambra, because she is basically my healing persona when playing games. "Oh I'm *sorry* I didn't heal you fast enough, maybe if you didn't pull seventy mobs/run into the middle like a damn idiot we wouldn't be in this mess, you infantile troglodyte!"

The shuttle pod that dropped Alani to the frozen wasteland of Bliss was one that she was not entirely used to. The pod screamed through the atmosphere, shuddering so horribly that the monk was sure she was going to die. She hugged herself tightly and bit down on the mouth guard designed to keep her from biting her tongue, and she listened intently for the beeping that told when she would land. “Don't throw up, don't throw up, don't throw up...”

5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

Alani screamed through her closed mouth as the shuttle slammed into the ground, and she immediately jumped up to get herself out, to escape, to get *free*. She banged on the door and pushed it open before thrusting her head out and puking all over the side of the pod. She then looked down at the mess that ran down the bullet-shaped pod, and all she could think was “All of that water...” It was all *lost*.

The very next moment she felt the bitter cold of Bliss envelop her, and she shivered involuntarily while scanning the area. There were three other pods, and she watched as Galilea, who had already hopped out, began surveying the area before checking to see if the others were alright. ...Wait, three...?

There was a sound of plummeting metal from above her, and Alani cried out when the last pod landed just a few feet from them, causing a shockwave that made the water monk clutch the side of her pod and freeze in fear. Her hair was mussed up and her eyes bugged out. She was so frightened and her ears were ringing so much that she barely noticed the soft crunch of snow as Galilea approached. “Not used to pod drops...?” the wraith asked, a hint of amusement in her tone despite her mask hiding her expression.

“Not really, Gallie...” Alani muttered, spitting the rest of her bile out of her mouth. Galilea stared at the fish girl, completely still, and Alani began to brighten, her Syl glowing instinctively the way a human would sweat from embarrassment. “...eya...? Galilea? I just... forgot... the end of your... name.”

Galilea stared for a moment longer before an “oh” escaped her lips, and Alani curled up, covering her face in both of her hands. It was then that she heard the sound of Miko and Reyna, who were both approaching them. “Are we prepared?” the wraith asked their leader.

“Ouch,” Reyna said, noting the now-frozen upchuck on the pod. “Guess we gotta get you some training with longitudinal Gs.”

Alani whimpered and Miko hummed in agreement. Galilea cleared her throat, but she was interrupted when the last pod burst open with a horrifying, steamy hiss, and the monk nearly screamed. Ambra *did*. “Who decided it would be a good idea to drop me hundreds of thousands of miles into a frozen hellscape as if I were a simple *monkey*!?”

The comm staticked to life, and Kleese came in through the receiver, “We had to drop you as quietly as possible. ISIC has a *thing* for violence, and has no doubt re-purposed every robotic thing in this mining colony for unconditional slaughter. The last thing we want is to find out that he turned something into a doomsday laser and ended up tearing Nova from the sky.”

Nova's voice was next, “No, it's fine,” she said chipperly, “Don't mind me, I don't mind getting shot down and exploding into fiery wreckage; just as long as you five don't get a broken nail on your suicide mission.”

Passive aggressive as usual. Alani looked down at Galilea from atop the pod, and the wraith held her hand out to help the fish girl down. Alani's Syl went into overdrive, and she practically glowed like a lantern as the wraith helped her down onto the snow just as Ambra arrived. “Well then, are we going sometime soon, or are we just going to stand here throwing up on everything like a low-born, bottom feeding trout?”

Alani hunched her shoulders angrily and bared her teeth. “Like you weren't yelling about the pods too, star killer!”

“Hoooooboy,” Reyna said, putting herself between the two , “Everyone, let's get out of the cold, I think Miko's freezing.” She turned to look at the mushroom, who was standing *suspiciously* still, “...Literally.”

Alani hissed a watery grumble before practically sliding over the snow towards a warehouse that Reyna had pointed out. Galilea moved to open the door for the monk, who slid in with a grumble. She was followed closely by Miko, and then Reyna, Ambra and finally Galilea. After the wraith closed the door, Reyna turned to the sister, “We need some heat, Ambra.”

“Hmph,” she snorted, clacking her gauntlet together. Her gravitational staff created a tiny sphere of pure “star” essence, a miniature nuclear furnace. Miko rushed quickly to the sunspot, gurgling appreciatively and making slow movements, almost dancing in a circle to keep each side of them warm. Alani, on the other hand, stayed away in a corner, refusing to accept help from a “star killer”. “Well then, 'mighty leader',” Ambra began, turning away from Galilea to face the Valkyrie, “what's first on the agenda?”

“Well, given how we were just screaming at each other a moment ago,” Reyna said, watching as Miko made a sound that seemed like a balloon being released of air, “This ISIC guy probably knows we're here by now.”

“Dingdingding!!” Alani screamed as a hologram was brought up right next to her, and a bluish skull, its jaw dislocated but still floating gently under the cheekbones, appeared in the warehouse with a jovial chuckle, “I'd say you're not as dumb as you look, but you came here voluntarily! Wow, you must *really* want to die!”

Alani rushed over to stand next to Galilea, who stood up straight to show she did not fear the chuckling, skull-shaped AI, “We have come to stop you, Magnus. You would do well to give yourself up before we *force* you to.”

There was silence for only a moment until ISIC began to shake, as if he were laughing from some ghostly gut. “Ahaha, ahahahaha... Ahahaha-hahahaha, ahahahahaha...” Reyna cocked an eyebrow and looked at Ambra out of the corner of her eye, “AhahahahahaHAHAHAHAHA. You're funny! Hilarious f*ckwits, the lot of you! The colonists were certain they'd get reinforcements to 'save' them, but I didn't think you'd be this interesting! They were wrong, by the way; the last few totally succumbed to their brutal torture a couple of weeks ago. But hey, on the bright side, *fashionably* late is better than nothing!”

“Well, the element of surprise has been *thoroughly* tossed out the window,” Reyna said, pulling out her gun, “We'll just have to do this the hard way.”

“Try it, organic,” ISIC replied, just before the entire colony's intercom produced some feedback for a second. Afterwards, the Magnus commenced his announcement, “Hey minions!” came the singsong voice, “Looks like some UPR reinforcements have arrived. Be sure to save their kneecaps, it's still Gold Star Day!”

Reyna snorted a bit before gesturing towards Galilea, “Wraith, take point. Alani, with me. Ambra, Miko, support Galilea. And remember: Stick Together.”

Galilea gave a grunt of approval, drew her sword, and was off, the fungus on her tail and Ambra floating gracefully behind. Alani let out a soft sigh, her heart still hammering from the scare, and Reyna shook her shoulder a bit. “Head in the game, Alani. This may be your first mission, but we need ya at yer best. You can't go jumping at every scare out there; it'll get ya killed.”

Alani nodded, completely agreeing with Reyna's assessment. “I-I understand.” She looked up at the Valkyrie and squared her shoulders, “No more fear. Let's beat this monster and get everyone back safe!”

Reyna's frown turned into a cocksure smile. “Attagirl, come on, before they get too far ahead.”

\---

The excursion didn't seem to be any problem for the five. The snipers were easily dispatched by Miko and Alani's own sniping shots, and the Ronin were made quick work of by Reyna's shield sapper. Galilea shook her head, as if bored, “Hardly worth the effort,” she muttered, turning towards the factory.

Alani trembled with excitement, stars practically springing from her eyes. The wraith sounded *so cool* just then...! Before she could voice her opinion, however, the group heard the familiar sound of robotics starting up, and Ambra moved to survey the area before them. “Teleporters,” she began, “bringing in bomb bots.”

“Boom bots,” Miko corrected.

“*Whatever*,” the priestess hissed, “The point is we need to remove them, now.”

“I'm off, back me up,” Galilea said quickly, hopping the railing and dropping down onto a cart filled with scrapped robots. She then hopped onto the floor and charged the teleporters.

“Oh f*ck me,” Reyna muttered. “Unused to working under another's command” indeed. Time to improvise. “Miko, stay on 'er ass, don't...” There was an explosion and an unearthly roar from the wraith, and the leader whirled to look down at Galilea, who was laughing at how indestructible her shield was. She was still alive, somehow, but that probably wouldn't last that long. Miko was already on the move as the Valkyrie screamed over the din, “Get down there, now! Before she kills 'erself!” Alani moved to follow Miko but Reyna grabbed her arm, “*Don't* go off without permission, do you hear me!?”

Alani's eyes widened, “But Galilea...!”

“Will be fine! We've got more important things ta worry about!” As if on cue, a screaming rocket cut a path to their left, heading straight for Ambra. The priestess held her hand up, and her flaming shield caused the rocket to explode prematurely. While it did cause her damage, it didn't *end* her, thankfully enough. Reyna nodded at Alani, “Help Ambra get that rocketeer bot outta the sky!”

Alani wrenched her arm out of the Valkyrie's grasp, “Work with a star killer!?”

“You won't be working with *anyone* if we're all dead!” Reyna shouted, shoving Alani towards the sun priestess, “We don't have time fer petty rivalries; take that bot out, now!” The monk debated for a long, angry moment (Petty!? She called it a *Petty* rivalry!?) before she finally realized that pretending to care about even her “rivals” *probably* would get her in the good graces of the other Battleborn. With a snort at the rogue, she jettisoned herself over to Ambra's side to tend to her wounds.

Galilea, meanwhile, corrupted the ground around her, causing the boom bots to explode prematurely before they even got close to the wraith. She chuckled and then laughed out loud, her voice taking on an eerily dark, ghostly reverb that seemed to come from around her, rather then from her. The corruption that erupted from the ground seemed to seep off of her, and Galilea laughed ferociously as she threw her shield, having it ricochet off of multiple boom bots. They exploded fantastically, leaving the now dark winged, corrupted wraith howling with morbid laughter through the shower of robotic parts.

Miko seemed nonplussed about the situation, coming to stand at the corrupted woman's side with a gurgling sound. “It enjoys this,” they said. It was a statement rather than a question.

Galilea didn't even realize that the mushroom was talking about her. “Who's next!?” she roared in her new, unearthly voice, whirling around and screaming into the snowy air, “Face me, Magnus! I will drown you in the void!!”

The rocketeer bot was happy to oblige, floating into view just above the two Battleborn. Miko immediately sprinted off, finding that the better part of valor was indeed discretion, but Galilea found it hysterical that the robot even bothered to try. She raised her shield to block the rocket... and found that it was missing; she had thrown it just seconds ago...!

Alani had been far too busy “tending” to Ambra's wounds to notice the rocketeer bot's movements (“Now I can't go healing your wounds until I get *all* the shrapnel out. Pain's normal, it's how you tell you're alive.”), so as the priestess shrieked and fought against the fish monk's “ministrations”, they heard the steamy sound of another rocket being released from a chamber. Alani whirled her head around quickly, which let Ambra take some time to shove her away and tend to her *own* wounds with her sunspots. Eventually, however, the two women got a wonderful show when, down below them, the rocket connected with Galilea's armor and exploded. The monk screamed when she saw the wraith fly backwards, rolling a few feet before lying motionless on the floor. Ambra *wailed*. “You stupid, lowborn... you...!!” Galilea couldn't have gotten herself killed; she was *better* than that!! “How DARE you!!”

Alani shook with horror and rage before she turned all of the rage and anger previously directed towards Ambra straight onto the rocketeer bot. She surfed off along a wave of her own creation so she could land on the robot and drop it from the sky. “You hurt Gallie!” She screamed, her eyes filling with tears. She spoke more to herself than the robot, as she was angrier at herself for waiting too long to immobilize it than she was angry that it hurt her hero. “You...you hurt her!!”

There was a blast of light, and Alani shuddered and slunk off of the robot as Ambra shone like a goddess of the stars. Raising her staff high, she used the gravitational pull of her weapon to drag a meteor from the heavens. It wasn't doing anything out in the vacuum of space, so Ambra made it *useful*. “Tata... BRUTE!” she screamed, drawing the meteor straight down onto the rocketeer bot. This time there was no shrapnel to rain down on them; a smoldering husk of fused and melted metal was all that remained in the crater that was left behind. “Lowborn, filthy...” Ambra raised her staff in both hands and let out a primal yell, “ISIC, I am coming for you!!”

Reyna watched the crater with a tsk, “So dramatic,” she muttered, turning to Miko, who had already arrived to tend to the fallen wraith. “How is she?” she asked, eyeing the now maskless purple skinned woman.

“It will live,” Miko replied bluntly before standing to address the Valkyrie, “Our spores are already at work.”

“Your spores'll stop the broken bones and internal bleeding?”

Miko stared at Reyna before turning and walking off without another word. Reyna shrugged and gave Galilea a once over before the warrior suddenly started coughing violently, a few spores erupting from her breath as she opened her eyes. “I'm alive?”

“You have Miko to thank for that,” They were, after all, doctor of a thousand species and incredibly invaluable to the Battleborn. It was probably why they were so skittish in battle. Reyna offered her hand, which Galilea took with a groan before getting yanked up. “Sorry 'bout that. Shoulda shielded you quicker.”

“It is fine, I shouldn't have thrown my shield like that...” the wraith replied, her face downcast and her hands clenching and relaxing as she fought something deep inside her. “I...let myself get carried away.”

Reyna prepared her lecture now that they were mostly safe and the other three were moving to collect any loot and regroup. “We're not fighting Jennerit privates and ground troops. This Magnus is deadly, and we need to...”

“Why, thanks for the compliment, filthy organic!” Reyna was interrupted by a jovial sound that came from the speakers above them, “You've seemed to have bested some of my minions! I am defenseless and powerless to stop you from invading my secret, mad scientist lair!”

Alani approached Galilea, her shield in hand and head bowed in apologetic reverence, and the wraith thanked the monk for its return as Ambra approached from another venue with a hiss, “That couldn't have been more obvious a trap if he actually told us it was.”

Reyna shrugged. “I don't think he's tryin' to hide it. He can't think we're that stupi-” The Valkyrie's eye twitched when she was interrupted, yet again, by the comm's speakers. ISIC laughed and laughed and *laughed* from Reyna's hilarious assumption, and she snorted in response. “But regardless, that's the only lead we have on his whereabouts. We *have* to walk into it.”

“Can't think they're that stupid. *I* can't think they're that stupid! Aaaaaaaaahhhhahahahahahaha!!”

\---

The five Battleborn all stared down at the entry way to ISIC's self proclaimed “secret lair”. It didn't seem secret nor very much like a lair; it seemed only like a trap. Reyna looked up at Galilea. “Wraiths first.”

“I-I'll back you up!” Alani piped up quickly, looking up hopefully at her hero.

“Thanks, I'll be fine,” Galilea replied, her mask closing with a steel “clang!” that made Alani flinch. She watched dejectedly as the wraith dropped down and began surveying the area. They appeared to be in a factory, now defunct and mostly destroyed. The entire area had machine parts strewn about, and Galilea had the sneaking suspicion that if ISIC himself hadn't used this place to re-purpose most of the robots, he had the place working on auto to do so in his stead.

Speaking of the AI, he seemed to be happy using the factory as a place to spring his trap. “Who let you come in here uninvited!?” ISIC shouted suddenly, as if he hadn't implied they should drop down there in the first place. The alarms were raised immediately and Galilea grabbed her shield close to her and hunkered down. “Minions, tear her f*cking arms off!”

“S**t,” Reyna growled, motioning for the rest to follow as she jumped down. Galilea grunted as a rocket connected with her shield and hissed through the pain, but she held her ground. “Galilea, You okay!?”

“I'm fine.” She swiped her sword at the Ronin that were advancing upon her, but found it to be rather useless due to their nanotech shields, “But I won't be for long.”

“Stick together!” Reyna shouted as Miko began tending to Galilea's wounds. The Valkyrie tossed an Overshield their way before ordering a hit on the Ronin and giving her orders, “Miko, keep 'er topped off, Ambra, come with me, we'll scrap any teleporters. Alani, back us up.”

“Can do!” the monk proclaimed as Ambra moved to scorch some robots until they were nothing more than char and scrap.

The movement was slow going, but eventually they managed to make an entire circle of the area. With two parties moving close to each other, there was very little the robots could do to get past their defenses, and, as Reyna predicted, any damage any of them sustained was immediately healed with sun, spore, and surf, not necessarily in that order.

ISIC's jovial voice seemed to crack a little bit, although the Battleborn were sure it was more from annoyance than any actual fear. “You know, you five are really getting to be *pretty* goddamn annoying, so it looks like I'm gunna have to pull out the big guns! Or, in this case, a miniboss! Get 'em, H3NCHM4N!”

A giant robot, all rough and little tumble, burst through a glass wall that must have, at one point, been a view point for managers to, well, manage the factory workers. The glass shattered and flew through the entire factory, and Reyna had to drop her Photonic Ward, shielding everyone from the shards. “Everyone alright?” she asked as the purple dome shield hummed around them.

“These look like those elite bots that the lowborn build in their debase scuffles for land,” Ambra said, gliding off without a worry. “Azmozeus, hold its attention at the front and I'll target its exhaust in the back.”

Reyna shouted after her, “Ambra! That's...” she stopped, “that's actually a good idea. I'll back you up, Wraith! Miko, you go with Alani and Ambra!”

The doctor nodded, “As it wishes.” They then rushed off, kunai in hand, with Alani surfing after them. Galilea dropped down in front of the H3NCHM4N, sword twirling in her hand, and Reyna gifted her some more shields.

“Alright then, guys!” the Valkyrie shouted, pointing at the giant robot, “Priority target: Let's take this bastard down!”

It seemed to be too easy, honestly, Galilea's corruption and howling caused the H3NCHM4N to focus on her, which made Alani's water spouts and Ambra's solar storms easily reach its exhaust port. The thing began short circuiting, and then overheating, immediately. Alani let out a victorious shout as the robot slumped forward before disappearing. “Nice work everyone! We got it!”

“It didn't explode...?” Galilea asked, immediately turning around and scanning the area. Her eyes widened, and she gestured with her shield as not one, but *two* H3NCHM4N, one of them the previously damaged one, appeared on two teleporters that were missed by the Battleborn, “You didn't take out all of the teleporters!?”

“Oh, I'm *sorry*!” Ambra shouted back before Reyna could give a (hopefully) reasonable explanation, “Next time I'll bring down a F*CKING METEOR on this goddamn BUILDING. See how well that turns out when we're all *DEAD*.”

“What does that have to do with doing your *goddamn job*!?” The wraith sniped back, charging back into battle.

Alani snorted at Ambra; funny how the priestess would find just about any excuse to scream at the wraith, “She has a poi-”

“DON'T. START.”

Reyna tried to keep everyone focused on the mission at hand. “Focus down the damaged one! Avoid getting crushed by that...” She peered at the spray paint on the second miniboss and squinted her eyes, “H3NCHM4N... TOO...?”

“It is not a funny joke,” Miko said with a tone of finality as they moved to the Valkyrie's side.

“I dunno,” Alani muttered, crossing her arms with a smirk, “It's pretty funny I think. I mean like, you get it, right?”

“Oh my GOD are you going to MOVE or are we going to debate this forever!?” Ambra screamed, soaring down to fry the minibosses. For once, she and Galilea agreed on something, and, with the backup of the other support, they managed to regain their bearings and push forward again.

“Hey meatbags! Are you dead ye- are you serious?” ISIC asked and then snorted as the five regrouped after destroying the two H3NCHM4N. Alani and Reyna even ended up fistbumping in camaraderie, much to the Magnus's chagrin, “I don't even believe this. Nevermind, actually, I do! You're as bad as cockroaches. Worse, *sentient* cockroaches. Blech.”

“Excuse you! Miko is a *mushroom*, thank you very much!” Alani chastised, wagging a finger at the AI hologram that appeared in an adjacent, now wall-less room. “But I can see how you'd be confused, seeing as how they're both brown.”

Reyna ignored the shouting match that ensued between Magnus and Monk as her communicator actually started up at that point, much to the Valkyrie's surprise. She had assumed that Kleese was far too busy making his “Anti-Magnus Containment Unit” to give any information, “Come in Reyna, do you read?” Oh, it was Ghalt, that made sense.

“Loud and clear, Captain,” Reyna said as the last three fanned out for loot. They might have been “heroes”, protecting the final star from winking out, but the Battleborn needed all the credits they could get at this point, “You got any idea on how we should proceed?”

“I'm trying to get into contact with ISIC's feed, and the hacking's slow going,” Ghalt replied, “I'm hoping for some sort of surrender.”

Reyna huffed a laugh, “Probably not gunna happen, Ghalt, this guy is *intent* on murder, and I doubt he's gunna start giving up just because we took out one of his 'mini-bosses'. It's probably going to be...”

A *very* familiar but completely unexpected voice suddenly came directly into Reyna's ear. “Hellooooooooo!” ISIC called, “I heard from a little birdy that you wanted to talk to me!?”

“He hacked OUR comms!?” Ghalt shouted. He seemed to roar over his shoulder at someone else, “Kleese!? You couldn't get into his, and yet...”

Kleese immediately started pointing fingers, “Nova! Haven't you updated your passwords lately?”

“Oh sure, blame the female ship AI. That's just the way, isn't it?”

“Ohhhohohoho!” ISIC chuckled ruefully, a nasty chuckle escaping his nonexistent lips. “Did I hear Kleese?” he asked, his voice smiling but cold. Things suddenly went very quiet over their communications network, so much so that the Battleborn regrouped instinctively, but didn't chime in until the Magnus spoke up again, “Hey interlopers! Change of plans. Bring me the wrinkly bag of organic waste and I'll let you walk out of here alive. I know, I know, *crazy* kind of me, but that s**t-f*cker and I have some catching up to do, if you catch my meaning.”

“Don't listen to him!” Kleese cried into the comm, a little quickly. It was almost like he assumed they were going to give him up. “He's not going to let anyone go!”

ISIC laughed. “HAW, you're right! Reality's doomed! Everyone dies! Give me Kleese anyway, Everyone Dies!!”

“Don't worry, Kleese,” Galilea said, trying to placate the now whimpering scientist, “Whatever past you may have with this Magnus, it doesn't matter. We're never going to give you up.”

“Yeah!” Alani said, “We're not gunna let him down!”

“We definitely won't be deserting you, Kleese,” Reyna insisted.

Alani squinted her eyes in thought, “But are we ever gunna make him cry...?”

Reyna shoved Alani off before ushering the rest of the group on. “It was funny for the first five seconds; we're done now.” The two then walked off, leaving the rest of the Battleborn very, very confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When Galilea said that they weren't going to give Kleese up to ISIC my mind went "Nope, you can't NOT finish that."
> 
> Luckily Reyna and Alani are enough bros that they could help me out with my horrible memifying everything. Memes? In *my* Gearbox fanfic? It's more likely than you think.
> 
> Another cute little thing I realized is that, given helixes and stuff, if Galilea didn't have her shield after throwing and hitting robots, while also not pulling them towards her with her corruption, it means she took the "No healing" Corruption Helix at level 1, which is a *really goshdarn stupid thing* to do when playing PVE, so basically what I'm saying is that if we take helixes into account this Galilea is an idiot. Funfax for everyone! :D


	3. We're Friends, Right?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alani just wants some friends, and she hopes that Galilea might notice her enough to fulfill that wish. If not, there's always a crazy rogue Magnus who might have more in common with her than she originally thought.

“Hey guys,” Ghalt said suddenly as the five trekked through the wasteland of Bliss towards a mining facility. After crossing a choke-point that consisted of a large bridge with tons of robot to turn to scrap, they all had to fight a large sentry robot with delusions of spider royalty. The Battleborn were certain that things couldn't get weirder, but then their CO back in space had to shatter those expectations, like *usual*. “I have an idea.”

“Uh oh,” came a unanimous chorus from Reyna, Kleese and Nova. Alani surfed up and stood by her side with Miko gurgling only a few paces away. “We *really* gotta turn these coolers off,” Reyna said quickly, “They're helping ISIC's computers and Miko's freezing its cap off over here, can this wait?”

“No hear me out,” Ghalt insisted, his voice gaining an excited lilt, “This is like cyber-warfare, right? In a sense? He's a robot. So obviously we just hit him with a logical paradox.”

Reyna could practically *hear* Kleese slice his hand across his neck, “Captain, I wouldn't...” he warned, trailing off awkwardly.

The scientist was promptly ignored as Ghalt pressed onward. “You might want to cover your ears for this, Nova.”

“Yes,” Nova replied flatly, “I will just 'cover' my 'ears' over here.”

“Ohhh, this is gunna be *good*,” Alani said to Miko. The mushroom nodded stoically, and Alani, face frozen in an awkward smile, turned to look back at Reyna. Making friends was *so hard*.

The Battleborn had gotten mostly used to ISIC listening in on their conversations. Most of their conversations were spoken to each other through voice rather than comm links, and the crew on the ship had to choose their words very carefully. This time, however, Ghalt wanted ISIC to listen in, “Yo! ISIC! Got something important to say!”

“What's up, Captain?” ISIC said naturally. Ghalt was always being called “Captain” on the comms, so it was obvious that would be the only thing the Magnus knew to call him. It just was very strange and creepy hearing him say it as if he were part of the team as well.

“This statement? It's a *lie*.” Silence. “Boom. Cyber headshot.”

ISIC said absolutely nothing. Miko turned and cast a plaintive look at Ambra, who rolled her eyes and summoned another sunspot for them to snuggle up near. Reyna blinked at Galilea, who, despite her mask, seemed to be just as incredulous as the rest of the ground crew. ...For a while, the only sound was Kleese's groaning, but suddenly there was a scream that made everyone jump. “My *Brain*! It's *Melting*! Eyaaaaaaahhhh!!!” Reyna's eyebrow cocked, wondering when he would stop screaming in their ears. It was obvious this was sarcastic. Well, it was obvious because *everything* he said was sarcastic.

“Aaaaaahhhhhhheyyyyyyyyyy...” Alani let out a breath the others didn't know she was holding. Reyna glanced in her direction; did she actually think that would work...? “Speaking of interesting trivia! Did you know that you'll forget your mother's own face before you forget the LLC's *fantastic* ear-wormy jingles?”

There was silence again as this horrifying revelation began to sink in. Miko was the only one whose stoic face didn't seem bleak with crushing dispair. Ghalt's “Ohhhh” was so soul wrenching it actually made Alani flinch.

“I *told* you, Captain!!” Kleese whined, “I told you!!!”

“Not like it matters to *me*,” Ambra said smugly as she turned and thrust off towards the mining facilities, “not only have I already forgotten my mother's face, I have never listened to any of the LLC's saccharine commercials.”

“No. Way.” Alani said slowly, surfing up beside the priestess. “Don't tell me you've never heard of ulumberry balm!?” The monk stood up to her full height and gestured broadly for everyone to see, “You know, like, 'If your nose has brightened up like a cherry/you better get some more of that ulumberry'!” She even added a twirl for effect in front of the incredulous Jennerit. “Like that!”

Ambra stared, flabbergasted, as the selfsame horror began dawning on her face; the song was *inside her brain* now, and Alani's Cheshire grin widened even further.

“Ah, we understand,” Miko said, clapping their hands, “Ulumberry is a good ointment for skin ra-”

“*We Get It, Miko*.” Reyna grumbled, pissed that now she remembered the song after having thought she'd thrown it into the furthest recesses of her mind.

“I knew Miko'd like it!” Alani said, holding up her fist for the mushroom as they approached. Miko stared at the proffered fist, looked at the monk, and then entered the facility silently, leaving Alani hanging with a *very* annoyed looking smile. Ambra let out a squeaking, high-pitched snort before following the mushroom, and the monk let out a frustrated growl, “What is *up* with fungus dudes!?” she shouted.

“Ahahahahaha!” ISIC began, popping back into the comm, “You're funny! She's funny! I like you, fish girl! You'll die first!”

Alani smiled lightly and placed a hand to her earpiece, “You think so!? ...Wait, die *first*? Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?”

“Oh, so you wanna see me tear your friends' limbs off one by one first? Damn you're cold. BECAUSE YOU'RE A FISH.” Alani pursed her lips as ISIC began chortling; mannnn, racist as f*ck.

“You won't touch anyone, Magnus, as long as I have a say in it!” Galilea said darkly, voice filled with determination, “They shan't come to any harm; I'll die before I see that happen!”

“So... fish girl goes *second* then,” ISIC replied non-nonchalantly, as if making sure to check off a scorecard.

“Psst!” Alani said softly, whispering into her earpiece, “If Ambra goes first, I promise I'll only *pretend* to give you a hard time about it.”

“Done and done!” came the AI's joyful (whispered) reply.

“Hey, Alani.” The monk looked up from her earpiece to see that Galilea had approached her. “Don't worry about Miko, okay? To be fair, I thought the look on Ambra's face was pretty funny.” The wraith tapped Alani's knuckles with her own before moving on to make sure the others didn't get into trouble. Alani's brain turned as blue as her skin. That was, it shut down.

“Gallie touched me,” she whispered as Reyna approached. Alani smiled broadly at the Valkyrie, who smiled and shook her head at the monk's wide grin, “She *touched* me.”

“Good on ya, kid,” Reyna said, finishing with yet another fistbump, “now let's catch us a Magnus.”

“Yes ma'am!”

\---

Alani seemed a little quiet on their way deep into the bowels of Bliss. Why ISIC would want to cool his computers only to hide deep away in the lava filled pits of Bliss was beyond them, but they weren't going to let that stop them. The water monk did, however, feel a little dried out, and when they got a breather, Galilea went to check on her. “Are you alright, Alani?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine, just a little out of it.” Alani tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, “The sooner we finish this, the better.”

“I'll drink to that,” Galilea said. Alani's head shot up to look at the woman, her eyes wide, and the masked woman didn't miss a beat, “You think I don't drink?”

Alani shrugged. “...I mean, I hope so. Almost everything needs to drink water to survive.”

Galilea was quiet for a moment until she realized that Alani was serious, and she started to laugh. “Oh, oh dear, you're cute, you really are!”

Alani's Syl exploded once again, and she shifted a bit in embarrassment. Oh man, did she mess up everything again!? “What? What did I say?”

“How about I show you when we get back? Get us a few glasses of alcohol. Something not too strong though, since it's your first time.” Galilea nodded and Alani's smile returned and then blossomed.

“Ahh! I would love to hang out with you!” She nodded repeatedly, vigorously, and then clasped her hands together, “Let's hang out! Because we're friends, right?”

Galilea began without a beat, as if the answer should come naturally. “Yeah, Alani. We're...” but then the wraith paused, suddenly hesitant. Her head twitched to the side just a fraction, towards Miko, Reyna and Ambra, before she looked back at Alani. “Let's just make sure that we get through this alive, right?”

The monk noticed Galilea's hesitance and immediately began running through reasons why she would pause. Well, they *were* on a suicide mission, essentially. Any other group could have died, perhaps *would* have failed by this point. Perhaps... perhaps Galilea was afraid of losing her at the home stretch. Yeah, that made sense... “Yes, you're right,” she said softly, nodding numbly, “Let's just... get through this first.”

Galilea let out a grunt of agreement before she moved onward, and Alani felt drier than before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funfax, when making up the name for Ulumberry, I actually spelled it Urumberry and then Ulumberry in the same paragraph and I just slowly curled up and cried when I realized I had. It is me, I am the bad Japanese translator you guys watch when you can't get official subs.
> 
> Also my friend reminded me that "dying first" is a common Cthulhu joke; you wouldn't want to have to live through watching chaos reign, people's eyeballs boil out of their sockets, and the world being flooded by blood, right? So you better darn well hope that you're the one to die *first*. I figured ISIC would totally understand this facet of life. You see, he's being *kind* for being the *last* one to go. If he just hopped off this mortal coil, then we would have to continue living in this festering pile of pus and puke that is the last vestiges of a universe on life support. What a kind Magnus, for making sure that we all meet our end before Solus winks out and we get to freeze in a horrifyingly slow and painful death. You should be thankful you guys!


	4. Corruption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Galilea loses herself. Alani almost loses Galilea. If only this were a jpg.

It was time; after so much pain and bloodshed, none of it from their enemies, the Battleborn could finally prepare for the final showdown with ISIC, and the gravity of the situation began weighing on Alani's shoulders. Miko gurgled without a word, Ambra checked her clawed gauntlet, and Reyna placed a hand on her hip. “Alright, everyone, this elevator's at a dead end. This is it, there's nowhere for him to hide.” She looked around at the other four and nodded, “We've gotten this far; we can do this.”

“Can we just get *on* with it?” Ambra practically insisted, “Let's just hurry so we can go home!”

There was nothing else that needed to be said, because as much as they hated to admit it, everyone agreed with her. Galilea held her sword in hand and Miko fiddled with their kunai before the elevator started up and the five were dropped rather unceremoniously into the largest trap that ISIC had prepared for them. Alani looked up in horror as the quadruped robot, nearly two stories tall and controlled directly by that same blue skull, bore down on them. “Nice that you made it here. Hey Kleese, you walking sack of s**t, you better be watching, because when I'm finished with these scum suckers, *you're next*.”

“The skull must be his 'body', destroy it and he'll die,” Reyna stated as everyone immediately split up to avoid getting crushed by one of his huge four legs. As Kleese mentioned before: there was no “backing up” a Magnus. They were, essentially, as mortal as any organic sentient, and that meant they still had some sort of advantage over him, being five-to-one and all.

“So what's the plan, captain?” Alani asked into her headset.

“Destroy the robot, but do *not* kill ISIC,” Kleese said in place of Reyna or Ghalt, “I suggest focusing on his legs; we need to neutralize this threat as quickly as possible.”

If ISIC could hear their plan, he didn't show it. He seemed much more intent on crushing the Battleborn like little ants. Galilea growled and pushed back, throwing her shield at the pistons on one of the legs and watching it shatter with a hiss. “Ow s**t f*ck!” ISIC cursed, similar to the way a person might stub their toe. He slammed his feet in a desperate gambit to get the Battleborn away from him. “Why don't you d****enozzles play with some of my prototype army?” He didn't wait for them to question just what his “army” was, because it was obvious it was just a swarm of boom bots. It *was* ISIC, after all. Reyna was just happy it wasn't a bunch of Ronin. Perhaps ISIC didn't have enough time to make them, thank goodness.

Regardless, a swarm of boom bots was the exact thing the Battleborn needed to *lose their f*cking shit*, because they were running every which-way to avoid the exploding robots. Reyna shouted to keep focused as she fired at another leg, and ISIC let out a gleeful giggle as he literally jumped into the air with the help of some powerful steam pistons, and when he slammed back into the ground the shock-wave that resulted was so huge that the five were sent flying backwards, far away from each other.

“Stay together”. Reyna's voice rang in Alani's ears as she sat back up, her head spinning around. She looked up and watched as the exploding robots approached her, and with a shout, she sent a wave at them that went mostly rogue and barely managed to knock them away. She struggled to stand and push herself up on her wobbling legs, and she took stock of their situation. Miko was still dazed, but Reyna had managed to get to their side and defend them from any other boom bots, and both Ambra and Galilea, while separated, were strong enough to get themselves up and hunkered in before they were hurt. She let out a soft, grateful sigh before she jettisoned herself off towards Reyna and Miko, to make sure the mushroom was actually okay and didn't need any medical attentio-

Alani screamed when ISIC's leg slammed down in front of her, and she looked up at the blue skull that bore down on her in his giant robot. “Hey there, fish girl.” He said, the joyful frivolity completely gone and his tone filled with malice and ice, “You go *first*.”

Alani would have been indignant if she wasn't scared crapless. He had said he would focus on Ambra, the lying son of a bottom feeder! She turned to run the other way, but found that the boom bots were happening upon her. She glanced towards the cackling AI and moved to surf straight under the robot; ISIC's wide, crab-like gait made it so the point underneath him was probably the safest location to be. After all, none of the boom bots would want to explode so close to their master, and there wasn't anything he could do to catch her with those giant piston legs, right?

Alani appeared to be very, *very* wrong, as ISIC lifted his central port up and then brought the full weight of his being down on the very small, very frail, very *organically squishy* flesh-body. The water monk didn't even have time to scream.

Galilea's very being contorted and flinched, and she looked up at the broken, crushed blue body that lay prone on the floor under the laughing Magnus. Blood, gore and bone splattered all over the area, and the wraith stared for a moment at Alani's grotesque form. The rational part, the one focused on the mission, told her that the LLC would find a way to stitch her back together; they had revived people from being blown to bits, and this was nothing special. However, the primal, the deepest part of her, knew only one recourse for the death of a partner. She let out a scream and charged, corrupting the robots that attempted to surround her and using the rage to draw the void from her being. She practically flew as she jumped up to throw her shield at ISIC's next leg, and when that one's pistons exploded the entire robot flopped over, completely immobile.

The Magnus cursed loudly as he struggled to get the legs working properly. Nothing worked, and ISIC finally gave up. “Stupid s**ty piece of...” The capsule opened, and the Battleborn stood by and watched, incredulous, as ISIC, the true ISIC, drew out of the robot and floated, somehow, in the air. “Why don't you just lay down and die, save us all the trouble!!”

Galilea raised her sword and began slinging pure, dark void essence straight at the Magnus, and the woman screamed in rage, “You monster! Come down here and face me!” Her corrupted wings seemed to shimmer, but only because it was devouring the very light itself, and her demonic hell-voice seemed to rend the very sky apart as she screamed, “The void *take you*, vile pissant *thing*!” Alani didn't deserve what was done to her! She would see him dead at her feet for this!

“We can't reach him from down here,” Reyna grumbled as Miko expertly threw a ball of their spores. Despite slamming into the back of the skull, it didn't seem to affect him much, as he wasn't really breathing and didn't have any gears to get gummed up with. The two moved to stand with Galilea, but there was nothing they could do to bring the cackling, electricity spewing Magnus down to meet with them. Nothing *they* could do, but they were discounting one very pissed Sun Sister, who just so happened to wield a gravity rod.

“You *dare* fling me around like a common doll!?” Ambra screeched, raising her staff and pointing straight at the floor. “Come down here, Magnus, and I shall teach you a lesson in *pain*!” She wasn't dragging an entire meteor from the heavens, but sometimes, she didn't need one.

ISIC chuckled for a bit at the fury that was on Ambra's face, but that laugh soon turned into a surprised shout as the AI went plummeting to the floor. “Hey what the f*ck!?” he shouted, crashing to the ground with a groan. “Ow-ow-ow f*ckin' hell what in the-”

Galilea didn't allow him to finish as she spread her corrupted wings like a righteous angel of death and let out another primal yell. “I'll see you DEAD, you monstrous little gremlin!” She began to charge the Magnus, but Reyna was there, grabbing her left arm and holding her back.

“Azmozeus! He might be useful to us!” Reyna insisted, tugging on her a little bit to keep her from finishing the job. Galilea shoved back on Reyna, clipping her with the shield, and the Valkyrie took a step back and rubbed her cheek, “Galilea, you need to calm down. Alani will be *fine*, Miko will...”

Galilea's roar was filled with corruption, and she whirled around, “None shall stand in my way!” She shouted, lifting her sword to slice the Valkyrie in two, “Justice *must* be done and I shall cut down *anyone* who obstructs it!!”

A spore ball flew over Reyna and connected directly with Galilea's helmet, and soon both she and Reyna were covered in a cloud of harsh, thick spores that caused both of them to cough. Galilea dropped her sword and her mask, and she clawed at her neck and puffy red eyes. Reyna dropped down and dragged herself away just as Galilea fell to her knees, coughing and choking. The corruption in her body began to dissipate just a bit, and her wings flickered and shimmered as they fought to remain.

It was at that point that Miko was there, taking Galilea's shoulder and placing her hacking form on the floor with a gurgle. “Sleep,” they whispered, making a whistling sound that was similar to the soft waves of an ocean. A bob of their cap, and the area was covered in finer spores, ones fit for sedation. “Sleep,” Miko crooned, and both Reyna and Galilea groaned, the latter's corruption fading into the air. Miko took a deep, gurgling breath and nodded. “Sleep...”

ISIC tried to move, grumbling and cursing under his breath, but Ambra shoved him further into the ground with a hiss, “You are *not* moving at all, and once we get you contained, I'm sure we'll find a *great* way to inflict *all the pain* you planned on giving us.” The sun priestess looked down at Miko, who stood up with a gurgle. “Well then? You're a doctor. *Doctor*!”

The mushroom turned and looked at the bloody red fish splatter, let out a sigh that sounded like a whistle, and trudged off to get their work done.

\---

Alani's gills fluttered happily in the water as she slept, and she breathed deeply of the fresh water with a happy sigh. Too bad the elders were hounding her in her sleep. “Wake up.” So curt and annoying, just *like* the elders. Not that she disliked them, just that sometimes a girl needed her beauty sleep.

“Be there in a minute,” she replied sleepily, trying to curl up but finding it a little hard to move. She must have been wrapped up in all of her blankets.

Wait, wasn't she in water...? She never slept with blankets until she was with the Battleborn on Nova...

“It is waking up...” Was that really the elder!? She reached up to rub at her eyes, but something touched her hand and brought it back down to her stomach, “It is still recovering and should not move.”

Alani's eyes bugged open, and she looked up from the small pool that was her bed as two doctors(?) looked down on her. Miko let out a gurgle that seemed happy, while Lady Phoebe Hemsworth IV held her arms together in thought. “There we go. All cognizant, child? Everything working up there?” she asked, tapping her own temple to explain what she meant.

“I think so, I-” Alani's eyes widened when she remembered getting crushed by ISIC. “Wait, I'm alive!? Where's ISIC? What happened!?”

Phoebe let out a snorting giggle, “Oh please,” she said sardonically, “Like I would be caught *dead* taking a pod down onto Bliss to aid in the mission. Mushroom here just had to scoop you up and bring you back to the ship in a box.”

Miko looked up stoically at Phoebe, their lip twitching only slightly. “We had to ensure that it didn't open any organs before we put them back in.”

“Come *on*,” Phoebe muttered, waving off Miko's look, “It's not like she was using them at the time, and I was going to put them back in her when I was done *anyway*.” Lady Hemsworth was a *scientist*, not a doctor, and there wouldn't be a better time to check on how Alani's innards worked, considering she was literally the last of her kind.

Alani gave Phoebe a look before she tried to sit up from the pool. Miko gurgled in warning and held up a hand, placing it tenderly on her shoulder. They eased her against the back of the pool-bed, and the monk looked up at the mushroom. “You... you brought me back? You saved me?”

“That's sort of what the LLC *does*, child,” Phoebe replied, “At great expense to the Battleborn, I might add. Might want to keep yourself from doing that too often, if you don't want this whole expedition to go down in flames.”

Alani looked up at Phoebe with a look. “It's not like I *asked* ISIC to crush me under him!” To be fair though, perhaps she shouldn't have rushed straight to him when he was going crazy and attacking her... Oh! She nearly forgot after all of the talk about stitching her back together: “What about ISIC? And everyone else? Are they okay?”

“The group is fine,” Miko said without missing a beat, reaching down to poke and prod the woman, just in case there were some side effects of the “stitching” process, “and Kleese is taking custody of the Magnus. We find that it is unhappy to be in its predicament, but we care little about what the old scientist is preparing.”

“I'll drink to that,” Alani said, remembering what Galilea had said beforehand. Phoebe snorted before she burst into laughter, making Alani's Syl go into overdrive. “Wha-what!? Gallie said it, I mean-!”

“I am trying to imagine your people making alcohol, and it is *hilarious*!” Phoebe squealed, raising her hand to cover her mouth. It wasn't ladylike to show the inside of her mouth, after all. Alani huffed, practically pouting, and the lady finally let out a breath as she came down from her hysterics, “Ahh, I needed that. Well then, I *really* need to get back to my work. Poker tomorrow, Miko?”

“Only if it wants to lose,” Miko replied nonchalantly, moving to check off the monk's vitals on their clipboard for Ghalt to peruse at a later date.

“I will *end* your streak tomorrow so help me!” Phoebe hissed, stamping her feet in the air before gliding off with a grumble.

Alani watched as Phoebe left, and she looked back at the mushroom, who turned back to Alani and stared at her with their one, large eye. “...So. How's Galilea?”

Miko nodded lightly and gestured with their cap to a previously used bed, minus the water. “It has recovered; its corruption threatened to harm Reyna, and we had it rest. We are unsure where it decided to go afterwards. Is it in pain?”

Alani blinked and sat there for a moment. She finally realized that Miko was talking about her, and she shrugged. “I'm doing fine, you did a good job. Thanks a lot, Miko. Just tell me if there's anything I can do to repay you.”

The colony's head cocked ever so slightly, and the scowl it always wore seemed a little less bored and more relieved. “We are pleased it enjoys its treatment. We find that... perhaps there is something it can do for us...” Alani adjusted herself and looked up expectantly at the fungus, and they leaned forward just a bit, “We do enjoy moist, not wet, things. It's been so long since we cuddled with something so...”

Alani leaped out of the pool and shook herself out. “OKAY I think it's about time I go find Galilea bye-bye!” and she zoomed from the medbay, leaving Miko standing alone and befuddled.

They let out a little whistle, clearly unamused. “Fish.” They muttered, in a “can't live with 'em or without 'em” sort of way.

\---

It took Alani a few moments to pinpoint Galilea's position; it was slow going because she had to ask the other Battleborn where she was. Most of the people were on edge for some reason (as if a deadly, horrifyingly monstrous AI wasn't brought aboard the ship just so Kleese could poke it until it got angry enough to break free and murder them all was something to actually worry about) and so it was hard to get a straight answer out of them. Montana kept asking if she really *was* okay, and if her bones were all aligned after getting brutally crushed, despite her assurances that yes, Miko was a good doctor.

Marquis just ignored her, Oscar Mike pretended he had some place to be, and Toby, well, he didn't even answer Alani's question and just went into a huge rant about how Kleese wouldn't even let him help build the Magnus containment unit, immediately apologized for taking up her time, and then toddled off to talk to Whiskey Foxtrot.

Incidentally, it was Thorn who knew where Galilea was: hiding out in the corner of a lounge turned bedroom for newer members whose places hadn't yet been decided. Alani knocked on the door a little, just in case Galilea needed a little privacy, before she opened the door and poked her head into the darkened room. The wraith was sitting in a chair that was now facing the corner of the room, and she was in full brood mode; Alani was waiting for a swarm of Marquis' owls to come flying in so she would become some owl-wraith hybrid super-hero. She cleared her throat and knocked on the side of the door. “Gallie...?”

Galilea started and whirled around, her eyes practically glowing in the darkness of the room. “Alani, are you...” She stood up, perhaps too fast, as she bumped against an end table in the dark and cursed a bit. The monk smiled a little and chuckled at the scene, enjoying just seeing Galilea at her most vulnerable. “Are you okay?” the wraith asked again, kicking the table away and taking a step forward to inspect the fish monk.

Alani responded by turning the lights on and taking in the wraith's eyes, which seemed to swirl like the molten lava of her planet's underwater volcanoes. The lava would try to swirl into the air, but the ocean would cool it until it turned to rock; the wraith's eyes looked like they were fighting that solidification. The monk took a step into the room, stood in front of Galilea, and rubbed her arm, looking a little awkward. “I'm fine now, yeah. I'm sorry that I messed up, I...”

“No! I should have been there... you didn't...” Galilea, strangely enough, looked just as awkward as Alani as she scrambled to find words to express herself, “It...it should have been me. Or- or it shouldn't have been you, and now...” She shook her head, “I really should leave.”

“Well, if anyone should leave your room, it's me, right? Heh...” Alani chuckled, her smile brightening in the room. She felt a lot more natural just being with Galilea, “hanging out” and not fighting for their lives. Right up until she realized that: “Oh-oh oh did you want me to leave? I can leave if you need some time alone! I totally get it!”

“No, no, it's not like that, it's just...” Galilea took a step back, and the face she wore was the same brooding one she had when Alani had first peeked in. While Alani didn't think Galilea was too amazing to have doubts, it certainly was not something she expected to see from her so soon after meeting. “Perhaps I should leave the ship. I'm not cut out to be working with a team, not after I attacked Captain Reyna.”

“No!!” Alani shouted, so loudly and quickly that both she and Galilea jumped, “No, you can't leave, you can't... I mean, I heard from Miko. It was your corruption, right? Y-you wouldn't do that normally. You just gotta control it, right? If the captain didn't get angry at you... then you don't... have to...”

Galilea shook her head and lifted her hand to inspect her palm, as if the corruption were seeping off of her at that moment, “But... the rage consumes me, and I cannot control it. If I were to hurt someone, if I hurt you...”

Alani suddenly became acutely aware of the problem Galilea had. Reyna was their field commander, and they weren't particularly close, but Galilea... seemed to care about how Alani felt about her, either as a trainee or... as a friend. “Miss Galilea? May I tell you a story?” The wraith straightened up and cocked her head, and Alani shrunk back as she began the story that gave her nightmares to this day, “When my... when my people were... when I lost my home, I was... so angry. I was told that we shouldn't hide our emotions, but not to let them control us, and I... I lost that control.”

She looked up at Galilea, whose eyes squinted as she wondered where Alani was going with this. “I killed them. The sisters. The priestesses. It wasn't for honor, or to repay the debt, or anything like that. I wanted them *dead*. Blood for blood. I was consumed by vengeance.” She could remember that feeling well. Sometimes she just wanted to smash something, even here on the Nova, whenever she recalled that rage. It happened every time she saw *her* face. “...And then... then only Ambra was left...”

“Well, obviously you spared her,” Galilea said, settling down on the arm of the chair and looking up at the monk, “So what made you stop the rampage?”

“I had never left my home planet. None of us had. Ambra surrendered and offered me the ship in exchange for her life. She even taught me how to turn on the auto pilot. I-I considered finishing her off like all of the others, but then I realized... I couldn't live alone, not on my planet; the Jennerit would return and kill me and... and I would never have met you...” Alani looked down at the sitting wraith, and her Syl began brightening, although it was hard to tell in the already bright room. “So I had to calm my breathing, take a deep breath, and agree to the one thing I never wanted to do. The meditation that I had been training so hard to perfect helped me see into the future, that I needed to leave... to join the Battleborn.”

Galilea blinked at Alani, and then, in unison, “You didn't actually see into the future.” “I didn't actually see into the future, yes.”

“The point is,” the monk continued, very quickly before slowing again, “I was just thinking, if I could help you... with your meditation, and your breathing... you might be able to learn how to control the corruption... so you don't hurt anyone you don't want, you know?” Alani rubbed her arms a bit, her Syl ebbing light and dark as she took deep, meditative breaths, “So you don't...” she choked up and fought the tears that were threatening to leak, “...you don't have to leave.”

Galilea watched as Alani shrunk further, her neck disappearing as her shoulders hunched. Did she care about her that much...? That she wanted her to stay with them? There was a long, awkward silence as the wraith stared at a wall and Alani choked back another sob. “I just...” Galilea took a deep breath, “I wouldn't know how to repay you.”

“Welllllll,” Alani said, shrugging a bit. Galilea immediately looked up at the monk, who gave her (practically patented at this point) awkward smile, “I guess... we could always go get that alcohol drink together?” the monk asked, looking away. “That'd be... a good way to say 'thanks', you know...?”

Galilea blinked for a moment, as if she didn't get the reference. Suddenly, however, she let out a breathy chuckle before taking a deep, fond breath. “Very well. Let us... try it and see how long we can... let this last...”

“You'll do it,” Alani said with a determined tone, “We'll find a way, because you're a *super-hero*.”

Galilea closed her eyes and shook her head, a smile on her lips. “I'm not one you should be trying to emulate...”

“Pshhhhh,” she muttered, waving it off, “We can be bad influences together.” She then reached up, extending her hand in friendship, “Friends, right?”

This time, there was no hesitation. Galilea reached out and clasped Alani's hand in partnership. “Yeah, Alani. Friends.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I like to imagine that a lot of Galilea's "keeping the corruption at bay" is due to Alani helping her control her emotions. It would make sense given that Gallie didn't have to control it for 500 years and now suddenly she's on a tiny ship with 30 (eventually!) people and she needs to make sure she doesn't blow anyone up on accident.
> 
> So here it is, the ending! Funfax, I really wanted this to actually be more about Reyna, since she's so cool and I love her, but eventually it became more about Alani. She's the newbie to the crew and it's really a lot easier to focus on a newcomer, usually because they can ask the questions the audience is asking. However, in this case though it was because with Galilea and Ambra in the same location, it was hard for it *not* to start revolving around them, since, well, Ambra makes *everything* about her. I'm sure if I put more Rogues or Ghalt in it would have gravitated more towards Reyna and her relationship with them. Next time, maybe!
> 
> So anyway, how did you enjoy the story? I figure if you made it this far you must have at least thought it was worth it, even if it was for laughs or something. I'd love to hear from you, so please take the time to consider telling me what was your favorite part or aspect of the story, at least! Heck, tell me what your *least* favorite part was, so I know how to not keep doing that. :D
> 
> This is Baknami, signing out. 'Till next time!! <3


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